HISTORICAL RESEARCH — M'LAUGHLIN. 237 



peculiarly dependent on print and publication. My strong desire to 

 see such a series of publications is based in part on my experience as 

 managing editor of the American Historical Review, where I found 

 the hopelessness of trying to call the attention of the historians of the 

 land to one tithe of the materials that in one form or another were 

 issuing from the press. 



X. To the examination of the archives of the Government there 

 is no end. The Guide to the Archives, which was published by the 

 bureau in 1904, has proved to be of great service to investigators. 

 Such a book, however, needs occasional revision, and many of the 

 collections which it mentions require particular attention. With 

 this end in view considerable work has been done during the year. 

 Portions of the Guide dealing with the Pension Office have been care- 

 fully revised ; certain collections have been examined in the Library 

 of Congress and the State Department. Such work, without show- 

 ing immediate results of much significance, is necessar}^ if the 

 bureau is to act satisfactorily as a guide to investigators who come 

 to Washington to carry on their researches. 



XI. In some instances assistance has been given by correspond- 

 ence to investigators who desired reports on materials for their work. 

 In other cases persons coming to Washington have received attention 

 and been aided in getting access to materials they sought. This 

 portion of the bureau's work is not unlikely to be of continuing and 

 growing value and to justify the establishment of such an agency 

 for the aid of historical investigators. Not to mention persons who 

 have come to Washington for only a day or two in search of partic- 

 ular material, a number coming for continuous investigation of some 

 weeks have been given assistance in one form or another that has 

 seemed to be of service : Miss Grace E. Burroughs in her work on 

 Educated Slaves, Mr. William O. Scroggs in his work on Walker's 

 Career in Nicaragua, Mr. Charles Meyerholz in his work on Federal 

 Control of the Territories, Dr. I. J. Cox in his work on the History 

 of the Southwest. 



XII. With the preparation of this report the work of the bureau 

 passes to my successor, Dr. J. Franklin Jameson, who was chosen 

 to succeed me on October i, 1905. I need hardly say that the task 

 of organizing the bureau has been of immense interest, and I think 

 that its value to historical scholars has been demonstrated. In my 

 successor the Institution has secured the services of a scholar of wide 

 reputation who is admirably equipped for the duties of the position. 

 I surrender the work with some personal regret, but with assurance 

 of the continued growth and increasing usefulness of the bureau. 



